Tuesday 11 April 2017

Jane Birkin: Live on C à vous

Lovely to see Jane Birkin make a live appearance performing on French TV show C à vous at the end of last month.

She covers Gainsbourg's La Chanson de Prévert in an orchestral setting.

The new arrangement comes from her new album Birkin/Gainsbourg: le symphonique, featuring new versions of some of Gainsbourg's classics.

Some were songs originally performed by Birkin, some by Gainsbourg, others written by Gainsbourg for other artists. Some of the songs covered are better known than others, such as Requiem pour un con or Valse de Melody, while there are some lesser-known gems like Exercise en forme de z or Pull Marine.

His work always seems to work well when re-made in a new setting, whether the dub versions of his work that came out a few years ago or Birkin's Arabesque collection, which saw his work performed with a North African flavour.

All reflected well on the source material, the new settings opened them up to a new interpretation of the work.

I've found myself going back to work like the Gainsbourg dub collection and the Arabesque album repeatedly over the years since they came out. I reckon Birkin/Gainsbourg: le symphonique will also stand the test of time.

Birkin plays live in Paris on April 12 at the Auditorium de Radio France, with a show in Warsaw on April 19 and another in Monaco on May 11.


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